One Step at a Time
by slippersleaze
Summary: Leah is close to giving up; even resorting to packing her belongings and trying to high-tail it out of town. However, fate has other things in store for her and a newcomer arrives in town. An occurrence that takes Leah's life and flips it upside down. This is rated M for future chapters. Leah x OC


Hello everyone, I am slippersleaze and this is One Step at a Time. I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. This purely for entertainment purposes and do not link myself to Stephanie Meyer in anyway.

Enjoy the story!

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This was it. If she didn't do it now then she never would.

Tossing a large duffel bag on her bed, she began to empty as much from her drawers into as she could. It didn't matter what she brought with her at this point, just the fact that she wasn't unprepared wherever she was going. This was going to kill her mother, while Seth and the others would be able manage just fine without her. But she was twenty-four years old and it was about time she started living her own life. The reservation just wasn't providing anything for her anymore.

Yes, she would miss them. Her heart broke even now as she packed her bag, but she couldn't stand another minute of this hell she was putting herself through. As they went on with their happy lives, she was slowly dying in her misery. Anyone that truly loved her would come to accept that this was just what she had to do for herself.

She had thought it was bad enough to see Sam with Emily and try to pretend that she was okay. That had become manageable over the years, something she could force when need be. But the pain was still there, and it wasn't so much that he had married her cousin after it was supposed to be them. She knew that imprinting was something you just couldn't help when happened. It was the fact that people were imprinting. Her she was not even sure if she would ever get to know what that was like, but she still had to watch it happen to everyone around her. It was a constant reminder of what she was being deprived of, what she could possibly never have.

Stalling, she stared down at the photo on her nightstand of herself, her mother, and Seth. The link that had once held them together was no longer in the equation. Everyone had seemed to move on after his death, though. Seth with his duties in the pack and her mother with a new life with Charlie. Her father's absence still left a void in her chest that she had tried to pile things on top of but never seemed to fill. But they managed without him, bound together by a secret others that didn't know could never understand.

Grabbing the frame, she tossed it into the duffel bag and stopped to rub her hands over her face. Now was the part where she began to doubt her actions. It was that moment of wavering that had deterred her every other time she tried to make this move. This time, however, was going to be different.

Squaring her shoulders, she zipped up to the bag and grabbed it before exiting her room quickly. Her movements were light and silent as she took the stairs and gripped at the doorknob. Looking back at the silent and dark home, she chewed on her bottom lip and struggled with a moment of indecision. Finally, she forced herself through the front door and closed it softly behind her. Tears stung at her eyes and clouded her vision, her keys biting into the palm of her hand as she turned.

The sight of Seth in the driveway startled her and she dropped her bag with a gasp, watching as he buttoned his cut-off shorts and stared at her curiously. "I thought you were sleeping," she said softly, shuffling her feet awkwardly as he approached her.

"Went for a run," he said, glancing down at her bag. "More importantly, where are you running off to?"

There was something in his voice that made guilt eat away at her stomach and she took to looking off at the rising sun instead of answering him.

"Keys, a bag. You running out on us?"

"Seth, stop. Don't be so dramatic, okay?" she said, her tone exasperated as she finally met his eyes. The hurt that clouded them dug deep down into the pit of her belly, a feeling she desperately tried to ignore. "I was just putting extra clothes in my car. Might need them, never know when you're gonna phase." It was a stupid excuse and it sounded even more stupid coming from her.

Her brother didn't speak, only approached her and took the keys from her hand. A dull beep signifying the trunk had been opened resonated in her ears, the heat of Seth's gaze making her uncomfortable. "By all means, sis, don't let me stop you."

Seth had always been temperamental and let his emotions dictate his actions. Right now, Leah could clearly tell that he was hurt and angry, her pitiful excuse couldn't hide what she had been planning on doing. But he didn't say another word, simply shoved the keys at her stomach and knocked his shoulder into her's roughly as he passed by.

Jostled back a few steps, Leah closed her eyes and grabbed the keys. "Seth, plea-"

"What, Leah? Please, what?" His tone made her cringe as he rounded on her, eyes narrowed accusingly and brows knit together. "You were going to leave and not even tell us, weren't you? What kind of fucked up shit is that?"

Clenching her fists, she glared at the taller male. "You wouldn't have let me leave if I had told you and you know it."

"Why leave in the first place?"

Her resolve broke, tears stung at her eyes and she was forced to blink them back. "I'm dying here, Seth. There's a knife in my chest and, as much as it hurts me to leave here, it's killing me to stay." She was close to crumpling down onto the porch steps but she pressed her lips into a thin line and willed herself to be strong. "I can't do it anymore. I just- I can't."

The fury that had occupied Seth's eyes dulled and his face softened as he looked at his normally ball-busting, no-nonsense sister. The hurt could be read on her features and he knew it was taking all she had to not burst into tears. But, even still, catching her trying to leave without even a goodbye was breaking his heart. "It'll kill mom," he mumbled, his pride not letting him add himself into that equation, as he dropped his gaze to the ground. "She won't be able to handle losing you."

"She has you," Leah countered. "And Charlie."

Seth groaned. "Yeah because that will definitely make her not care about her daughter skipping town."

A pang of guilt nearly brought her to her knees and she looked over at her car, lips pinched and eyes watery. "Please don't make this harder for me..."

He clenched his jaw and grabbed the bag off of the porch, stalking over to rear-end of her car and tossing it into the trunk. His eyes locked onto her's in one of the most heated glares she'd ever seen as he slammed the trunk shut. "What are you waiting for? Go."

The words made her body tremble with more emotions than she could name and she stepped down off of the porch, making her way to the driver's door. Seth wilted and was at her side quickly, hands grasping her upper arms, and chocolate brown eyes staring at her pleadingly. "Leah, I won't say a word, just please don't go, okay?" he asked softly, standing before her as the little brother she'd always known him to be.

"I can't stay," she said, begging for him to understand her. "Being here just reminds of everything I lost and everything I'll never have. I need to make a life for myself and go somewhere I can start over as just Leah Clearwater."

Grabbing the keys from her hand, Seth held them in a tight grip and leveled her with a disapproving stare. "What's so bad about being here, huh?" he asked, body starting to tremble with the anger he was feeling, teetering on the change. "Why do you have to leave? Because of Sam or something?"

The mention of her ex made her blood boil and she dug her nails into her palms, staring her younger brother down. "You see, that's one of the exact reasons I can't fucking be here anymore," she ground out, teeth gritted together. She was tired of being associated with Sam all the time when what they had ended ages ago. Yet everyone insisted on treating her like glass whenever Sam's name was even mentioned. "The fucker broke my heart and, yes, it fucking hurt. That was years ago and it seems like I'll never be anything more than Sam Uley's harpy ex-girlfriend. I want a life that is mine!"

Her voice had increased in volume as the tears she had desperately tried to hold back started to slip down her cheeks. "Everywhere I turn, I see these happy fucking couples experiencing something that I'll never have. Imprinting for me? How? Ha. Do I wait for someone that I know will never come? Do I put myself out there and possibly break their heart if that miracle day ever comes?" she asked him, eyes dark with anger as he stared at her, tight-lipped and unmoving. "I'm tired of being a werewolf. I want to finally be normal, Seth."

She watched as her brother's anger dissolved and his gaze softened, sucking her teeth and tugging the keys from his limp grasp. His pity was one thing she could definitely do without and this conversation had gone on far too long.

"I can't do that here where leeches make me sprout fur and everyone treats me like goddamn damaged goods," she added as a final note, shoving him out of the way and pulling the driver's door open. Her body turned to ice when she saw her mother standing on the porch, looking at her with tired and disappointed eyes.

"Seth, go in the house for a moment, would you?" she said, her voice thick with sleep as she stepped down off of the porch. Grumbling a bit, Seth did as he was told and threw a look over his shoulder at the two woman before disappearing into the home. Sue Clearwater wasn't an imposing character, but she'd managed to instill a fear in her children that kept them from wrongdoing. As she moved closer to Leah's door, all she seemed to be was weary and frail.

It stunned Leah when her mother closed the car door and gave her a small, but sad smile. "I love you," she said softly and laid her hand on the cool glass of the window for a moment. Their eyes stayed locked on one another as they shared silent understandings. In that silence, Leah felt her heart break for the umpteenth time, trembling as her mother wearily climbed the steps of the porch and walked back inside.

With a growl of frustration, she threw herself back against the seat and stamped her feet childishly. Why were they making her feel guilty for this? Taking a few moments to calm herself, she looked over at the feather hanging from her rear-view mirror. It had once been her father's but she'd admired it so much that he had given it to her one day. Lightly brushing her fingers over it, she let out a soft sigh and pushed the car door open. It was guaranteed that things were going change in the Clearwater house after this day. Things would be even worse after she phased and the others in the pack could read her thoughts. But that was an issue that would be dealt with when it arrived.

Grabbing her bag from the trunk, she trudged into the house and stopped when she saw her mother at the top of the stairs. They stood in silence for a while just staring at each other before Sue gave her a smile that spoke volumes and then turned on her heel to walk down the hall.

Humiliated and guilty as all hell, Leah slowly climbed the steps and hoped that she'd wake up to this all being a bad dream.

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So that was chapter one and I hope you've all enjoyed it so far. Please tell me of any feedback, criticisms, etc. The next chapter will be coming soon!


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